TP-Link Archer VR2800

A NICELY BALANCED ROUTER, WITH GOOD HARDWARE WITHOUT GOING NUTS.

IF YOU WANT something high-end, but the Netgear D8500 is perhaps just a bit too rich for you, then the new TP-Link Archer VR2800 might be a very nice compromise. It’s a router with excellent specs without going overboard, and a solid set of tools and features.

While it doesn’t have the tri-band fanciness of the Netgear, it still offers 4 x 4 MU-MIMO wireless, enough to support even a large household of streamers and downloaders. It delivered when it came to our test results, too, maintaining surprisingly high speeds at range.

It also makes good use of its twin USB 3.0 ports, with support for both USB storage and 3G/LTE modems. The latter can be configured as a failover or even load balanced with the DSL services, ensuring that even if the DSL network goes down you’ll always have internet access.

It can be set up using a standard web UI or TP-Link’s Tether mobile app. While the web UI still isn’t up to the standard of ASUS or Linksys, the mobile app has continued to improve and is now the best way to get the router up and running. It gives you access to most of the router’s major features, including internet setup, wireless and time-based parental controls.

Although it’s a relatively vanilla product, we actually really love the balance that TP-link has struck with these mid- to high-end consumer routers. It’s not loaded down with stuff that most people probably wouldn’t use, but it has very capable hardware and some very useful features like 3G and VPN support.